


Fragments (One-Shots) | Mystery Skulls Animated

by Tatttletale



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gen, Heavy Angst, eh idk it's kind of a conglomerate here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:42:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29258388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tatttletale/pseuds/Tatttletale
Summary: A collection of one-shots, discarded AU ideas and scenes I no longer want to use for my main fics.Currently featuring:— 4 chapters from my old fic, including the cave scene, an encounter with the manifested evil spirit, and others— 3 discarded chapters/scenes from my current fic
Relationships: Arthur & Lewis & Mystery & Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated), Arthur & Lewis & Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated), Arthur & Lewis (Mystery Skulls Animated), Arthur & Mystery (Mystery Skulls Animated), Arthur & Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated), Chloe & Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated), Lewis & Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated), Mystery & Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated)





	1. Players and Pawns (1/4)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [(my mind's) fully fading [editing]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9837860) by [SilverLining11](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverLining11/pseuds/SilverLining11). 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU: Chloe summoned the spirit to prove to Vivi she was smart and brave enough to join the Mystery Skulls, but that led to the cave incident. Written 2017.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: Swearing, mention of needles, lots of blood, description of unconventional amputation, graphic descriptions of hypothesised grievous injury.

_"No. I've told you before_ _—our work is dangerous and we don't want anyone inexperienced interfering. What if something went wrong? You wouldn't be the only one in danger."_

_"I've told you before! I can handle myself, Vivi. Just let me come along, just this once!"_

_"No._ _You're not coming. You're too young_ _—anything could happen to you! T_ _hat's all I'm saying about it, okay? Now go home, please."_

_She turned and stormed away from her co-worker, feeling her cheeks burn. Why did she think she was so helpless? She could look after herself. It wasn't like she would steal her spell book and go ghost-hunting or_ _—_

_She stopped in her tracks, face breaking into a grin. Of course, that was it! That was all she needed to do. If she told Duet she needed a book, surely they would give her one. And then she wouldn't even have to join the Mystery Skulls to do what they'd told her to do_ _—i_ _t was perfect._

_Ten minutes later she stood at the entrance to a cave, tome in hand. She raised a fist above her head and, reading from a crinkled page, shouted the incantation at the top of her lungs. The air went still, the night dead silent,_ _and from the pages rose a tendril of wispy smoke, swirling and twisting into a hazy shape._

_She could feel it feeding off her aura as it became awash with a toxic green, and she smiled._

_It took an hour of very thorough persuasion on her part before it finally agreed, and, satisfied, she turned to head back to town. When she glanced over her shoulder she could see the green creature hesitate before it drifted into the darkness of the cavern._

* * *

Arthur padded wearily behind Lewis, gripping his shoulders tightly. This place was creepy—it was cold and quiet and Arthur was getting goosebumps. Why had they come here? Vivi had said that the gang's Twitter page had gotten a request to check out this spooky place on the edge of town. Whispers around town said that people had broken down by this very cave in the middle of the night, each one wondering inside, lured by song. These tales were just to scare tourists, of course—but even so, the excitable bluenette had been desperate to check it out.

"This _reeks_ of supernatural," she had cried, buckling herself into the front seat. "We _have_ to go see what's going on—we might even see a real ghost!"

The gang had never actually seen a spirit before—they had only started up their paranormal investigations group, the Mystery Skulls, a few months before, after Vivi had suggested it might be a good idea. It would be an adventure, she had said.

As long as Arthur had known her since third grade, Vivi had been obsessed with the paranormal. Whenever they had play dates, Vivi would always cart over a bag of ghost stories or supernatural novels; and in sixth grade she did one better—when Arthur arrived at her house she presented him with all seven seasons of _Ghostbusters_. She had kept him awake all night with soda and candy so he could watch it with her, and they were still there, swaddled in blankets in Vivi's living room, at six o'clock the next evening. As soon as Arthur got home he had collapsed onto his bed and slept for 19 hours.

And now they were here, against all rational argument, investigating a creepy old cave. Even Mystery seemed unnerved—his ears were pressed flat against his skull and he growled at every sound—but Lewis and Vivi walked on ahead, oblivious to the dog's irritation.

Soon, a dim green glow lit the cave, and the gang found themselves facing a fork in the tunnel.

After looking around and measuring the circumstances, Vivi stepped forward. "Guys, I think we should split up to cover more ground. I'll go with Mystery—and Arthur, you can go with Lewis. If the tunnels don't come to a dead end, we all have an hour for exploring and then we can make our way back to meet here. Got it?"

Arthur could barely conceal his surprise—he usually got saddled with Mystery while the two lovebirds went off together. Arthur and Lewis nodded, but Mystery stood stock still, listening. Vivi turned and ventured down the right path while the two best friends advanced towards the left. Unbeknownst to them, Mystery tailed them, all the while sniffing cautiously.

After a while, the tunnel gave out to an open ledge. Lewis shrugged free of his friend's hands and took a few steps, reaching the edge of the ledge and peering down. They were in a huge cavern—stalactites dripped from the ceiling and unnervingly sharp spikes jutted up from the floor, almost thirty metres down.

Behind him, Arthur glanced around nervously, hugging himself for warmth and comfort. This place didn't feel right. The darkness seemed to creep up on him from behind, and the air tasted bitter and smelled foreboding . . . Arthur shook his head. What was he now, a dog?

Something rattled, sending an echo bouncing around the tunnel, and Arthur jumped. What was that? Was it a ghost? The young man turned, scouring the black tunnel. Nothing that he could make out.

He sighed, kicking a stray stone irritably. God, his nerves were frayed. It was just a cave—and caves were just stone. Stone worn down by wind and water. There was nothing to be afraid of here.

Arthur felt something cold and damp brush his leg, and he glanced down. Green mist was swirling around his knees, tendrils curling and weaving like vines across the floor. As he gazed at the fog, something pricked at the back of his mind.

 _Kingsmen,_ it hissed. It was a voice.

_Look at the way Pepper_ _is standing on top of that cliff. It would only take a small poke to push him off the ledge._

Arthur started. What was this thing in his mind? And why would he ever even _consider_ doing that?

_Because they see you as a weakling. They'd never admit it, but you know they do. Yukino_ _doesn't even trust you with that creature anymore._ His heart gave a pang. _I'm right, aren't I? If you finally did something of your own accord, something_ big _, then they'd listen to you. Pepper controls her, you know that_ _—he controls the group. If you got rid of him, you'd have free reign. Yukino would see what you're really capable of. You'd never be questioned again._

His eyelids drooped. That did sound tempting. Never being doubted again? Never having to put up with Lewis' orders? If he just pushed him. . .

Arthur jolted. _What?!_ Why would he ever do something like that?

_Listen, many people have come through this cave_ _know what you humans are like._ At that, panic flared in his chest, and the voice became smoother. _That doesn't matter. I can_ help _you. Come, Kingsmen. Just one small push, and you'll have everything you ever wanted._

 _I_ _have everything I want right here!_ Arthur fought, still trying to figure out what the strange voice was doing in his head. _I have my best friend, I have Vivi, and they respect me. They do!_

The voice seemed to chuckle. _Now, Kingsmen, you know that's not true. Come with me. It wouldn't even be your fault. Just let me do this for you._

Arthur took a step forward.

 _Come on. . ._ the voice was stronger now, forcing its way to the forefront of Arthur's thoughts, swelling to absorb his focus. Again, he resigned himself, fantasising. _It won't even be my fault. It'll just be an accident! And then they'll listen to me. They'll have to._ Arthur's heart skipped a beat as he felt his arm go numb, then barely stifled a shriek as it started to go green. The foul, decomposing feeling brought him back to his senses. _No, wait! This isn't what I want!_

 _Come,_ pushed the voice, growing louder and more insistent all the time.

Soon enough, Arthur lost all control of his left arm, and the green appendage hung limply at his side, before twitching and lifting itself. Its fingers crooked as if it had a mind of its own. _Push him. . ._ The voice whispered, and Arthur felt tendrils winding across his chest, down to his left leg and up to his face. The whole left side of his body felt numb and foul now, and his whole being echoed with desire, with those two words. _PUSH him. . ._

The green appendage jerked forward, and he moved forward, bringing himself closer to the offending man. Laying eyes on him, he shook his head and he strained, sweat breaking out as he fought the invading spirit, but it kept absorbing his thoughts, goading him across the bleak stone until he was standing right behind his best friend. His green limb reached out and, once again on the offensive, Arthur used his free right arm to grab it and hold it back, fighting to keep it in control.

"No," Arthur's whisper was hoarse. "Don't."

The voice in his mind chuckled darkly. _You still don't understand? I'm helping you, Kingsmen. Just one little slip and you'll get what you want. Finally, they'll respect you. All you need to give is one little push. . ._

His eyelids drooped in submission, but still he fought. Suddenly, the possessed arm ripped out of Arthur's grip and flew out, making a beeline for Lewis' broad back.

"NO!" Arthur shrieked, making a grab for his arm—

Lewis spun around. "Arthur, are you oka—"

The green arm planted itself flat against Lewis' chest and gave a hard shove. Lewis toppled. Arthur felt his lips curl in sick glee.

 _"ARTHUR!"_ Lewis shouted, eyes wide in horror.

The only thing Arthur found he could do was watch his best friend fall, growing smaller and smaller, reaching up as he called his name again and again. . .

Arthur closed his eyes abruptly, but that didn't stop the sound from reaching him. There was a slicing sound, a splat, a thump, and then a wail. A wail that would haunt Arthur's dreams for months. It sounded like Lewis had punctured a lung, and his voice was now a ghastly, bubbling wheeze.

Arthur turned away and dropped to his knees, slapping a hand over his mouth and squeezing his eyes shut at the instant nausea. Stomach heaving, he crawled across the stone floor, trying to get away from the ledge.

His body had other ideas.

The tendrils had spread through his body and now held him like a puppet on its master's strings. He was pulled to his feet, and firmly, purposely, his legs began walking him to the ledge.

He fought hard. He really did. But by this time, he was confined to a small corner of his mind, and could only watch in horror as he was carried closer and closer to the drop. He screamed internally as his left foot stepped into the air—

Something sharp and hot clamped down on his arm, jerking him back. He was thrown back onto the floor, and as he lay there, panting, a huge figure advanced over him.

It looked like a gigantic red-and-white fox. Its lips pulled back over its teeth in a snarl, and its red eyes glinted menacingly behind a pair of yellow eyeglasses.

_Yellow eyeglasses? Where have I seen them before?_

_Kitsune,_ the voice in his mind hissed, and his arm flung out and latched onto the creature's face, trying to shove it back.

With a low growl, the beast again lurched forward and clamped down on his arm, this time just below the shoulder—Arthur could barely suppress a terrified, agonised scream as he felt its teeth sink below his skin.

There was a sickening _snap!_ and the world went black.

* * *

Arthur was being shaken and he didn't know why. Was it time to get up? Did he sleep in? He thought he heard his phone buzzing too—he reached out his arm lazily, feeling around for his phone, but nothing happened. He couldn't feel most of his arm, or his fingers. But he could feel sticky stuff all over him—and then reality came crashing back in.

Lewis had fallen. His arm was gone. And that beast could come back to finish the job any second.

Arthur started to hyperventilate as the burning pain seeped in. How had he forgotten? After a drop like that, there was no way Lewis had survived. He was never going to forgive himself for this, and neither was Vivi. Vivi, oh god. . .

"Arthur?"

Vivi?

"Arthur!"

Vivi! Vivi was there, and she was going to help him!

"Arthur! Please, we need to go! We need to get you to the hospital!"

Hospital. Yes—painkillers, bandages, safety. Arthur cracked open his eyes, and slowly sat up, groaning. He tried to blink through the blinding headache and blurring tears. He reached up his hand to wipe them away—

Nope. No hand. He had to get up. He needed to get to the hospital—maybe they could reattach his arm. Where was that arm?

"Arthur! Come on!"

A hazy figure was waving something at him—what was that? Arthur squinted. A blue balloon? A ribbon? Oh. An arm.

Arthur grabbed Vivi's arm and hoisted himself upwards, weaving on his feet. He was really dizzy—maybe he should sit back down.

Something looped itself around his torso and under his arms—arm, keeping him steady. "Come on, Artie. We can do this. It's only a few steps to the van."

The van? Oh, yes, they had a van! Only a few steps. . .

With Vivi holding him up and Mystery dragging them along, it was a relatively quick stagger to the car before he was flopped onto the front seat and the vehicle started humming. The agony came back and hit hard.

Arthur cried out in pain. How much blood had he lost? Was he going to die? And how much blood was on his hands? Haha, blood was on his hands.

"Mystery! Please, calm him down! It's only a few minutes to the hospital, but we can't let him get hysterical! Jesus, he's losing so much blood . . . Oh, god, fuck, fuck, fuck. . ." The car stopped and Vivi took off her scarf and wrapped it around his bleeding stump—and only then was Arthur aware of the weight on his chest. He blinked up at the hazy figure, making out a white face, spiky hair, and yellow spectacles—

"Mystery?" Arthur moaned. The dog whined, huddling onto his chest and licking his face. He blinked at the dog in disbelief. "You. . . She was on the floor. Did you. . .?" He couldn't finish his sentence before his head began spinning again.

The next few hours were a blur. They arrived at the hospital and he was immediately shoved into a bed and rolled through white corridors and pushed through swinging doors. A doctor slid a needle into his wrist and as his head grew hazy; he strained to make sense of the snippets of conversation that broke through the blur. _Critical condition . . . hysteria. Blood loss . . . emergency surgery. Fluids . . . gas. Eight hours._

When Arthur finally woke up and was cleared to go home, he locked himself in his room for days and didn't come out to eat. He barely got any sleep, and the sleep he did get was plagued with twisted images. By the time he pulled himself together and came out, smiling at Vivi and putting some bread in the toaster for them, he didn't really know much, but he knew that he—and the remaining Mystery Skulls—were never going to be the same again.

Not without Lewis. Not without his best friend.


	2. Spiritual Encounter (2/4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU: A bust goes wrong when a strange and powerful spirit shows up. Core encounter written 2017, some context padding taken from chapter 6 because I was too lazy to write new padding and for some reason couldn't find the entire extensive draft for this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: Graphic violence with Mystery, blood.

As she walked, Vivi stared around at the bleak environment she could make out in the dim moonlight. There was a scrabbling sound ahead, and Vivi squinted along the path, trying to make out a certain white shape.

"Mystery?" She called, pulling her sweater sleeves down over her hands. "Mystery, you there?"

A sudden, earsplitting hiss filled the silence, and Vivi clapped her hands over her ears, screwing her eyes shut. As soon as her ears stopped ringing, she let her hands drop to her sides and opened her eyes—and her jaw dropped.

Before her, a green, catlike creature stood blocking the road, grinning nastily across at Mystery, who was growling menacingly at it. The thing seemed to be the source of the mist—and, indeed, where its bristling hair ended, it seemed to fade away into wisps. Its face was twisted, its mouth disproportionately large, and its mangled body, though incorporeal, looked badly decomposed. The creature took a swipe at her dog and Vivi shrieked, reaching out for Mystery. The dog dodged the monster's claws and grew before her eyes—his legs extended and his teeth grew long and sharp, and behind him his short tail grew long and bushy, now accompanied by other swishing, red-tipped ones. spices matches clippers

Mystery's eyes glowed crimson and he leapt forward, gnashing his teeth. The spirit swept him aside and Mystery landed hard, furrowing the earth where his body slid. The monster's green eyes flashed as it set them on Vivi—prey. Opening its cavernous mouth, it beared down on her, hackles raised, and Vivi screamed, falling backwards. Just as the thing would have been upon her, there was a white flash and Mystery was there again, standing over her and blocking its path.

Hurriedly she fumbled for her radio. "Arthur!" she shouted into it. "We need you, fast! Bring holy water, exorcism slips and salt! We've got something big on our hands!"

With a snarl, Mystery lunged at the malevolent spirit, but it dodged him easily. Now, as she looked at it, she could see it was around the size of Mystery. . . well, _smaller_ Mystery. It also seemed to have a gaping hole in its side, though Mystery hadn't landed a blow on it yet.

What followed was a series of advances and retreats, a gnashing of teeth. It was hypnotising to watch, and she stayed where she was.

Suddenly, something pricked at the back of her mind. A voice.

_Yukino— Vivi._

She straightened and glanced around. No one else was there.

_But I am. I'm right here._

When she glanced up at the creature, she found its eyes fixed on her.

_Your friend, there's something wrong with him, isn't there? Arthur. He has been acting distant._

That's it, distant. The voice was right. He had been acting strange the past few months.

_I can fix that._

It could?

_Of course. All you would need to do is hand over that kit— dog. Mystery. All I want is your dog._

What would the voice even do with a dog?

_That's none of your concern. I can help you if you just get it to shrink again for me._

Shrink. . .?

"Mystery," she called weakly.

He snatched a glance over his shoulder.

_Tell him to shrink again. Now._

"Mystery, I want you to. . ."

Before she could finish her sentence, a flash of pink light blazed through the clearing, blinding her.

* * *

Arthur skidded into the clearing, panting and out of breath. The first thing he saw was Vivi, on the ground, and then a few paces beyond her lay a huge, unmoving, red and white. . . thing.

He carefully padded forward and set a hand on Vivi's shoulder, making her jump. "Arthur!"

"Sorry— sorry," he exhaled, relieved to see she was okay. His eyes travelled to the bicolour form further down the path and upon recognising it, he paled. "Uh, what—"

" _Someone_ bit off more than he could chew," she replied curtly, and stood, brushing herself down. Arthur stayed rooted to the spot, staring. _That thing was real. The thing from the cave was real. And it was here. With them. Right now._

Suddenly he registered that Vivi was no longer beside her and he started, turning to find her striding towards the thing. He held in a squeak.

Vivi steeled herself, taking five strides before she was standing over her injured dog. Well, her injured . . . What was he? A fox? A fox with six tails. Her voice was steady and she was putting on a calm face, but from where Arthur stood watching, he knew she was still in shock. Her left eyelid was twitching—that was a bad sign. It meant there was probably going to be a "little talk" later on.

"Clever Vivi," Mystery smiled, but then his mouth turned down at the corners. "I'm sorry for keeping this from you for so long. I didn't mean for you to find out this way."

"Yeah, well, we're going to have a long talk later."

Mystery dipped his head once in acknowledgement, and, closing his eyes, he began to shrink. Slowly, the six tails retracted until there was only one, short one; and his body, face and legs grew shorter until a small red, black and white dog stared up at them.

Arthur gaped from behind.

Peeling off her jumper, Vivi stooped down and bundled the bleeding dog in her arms, hurriedly standing and turning to leave. "Now, we're going home," she said firmly, and Arthur could only nod dumbly in response.


	3. Dreams (3/4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU: Time-skip since the encounter with the spirit. The purple flash was Lewis casting a spell on Vivi in hopes she'd simply forget about Arthur so he could take revenge, but that spell is now gradually eating away at her memory—all of her memory. She and Lewis keep accidentally sharing dreams as they're connected through the memory spell. Written 2017.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONTENT WARNING: Swearing.

_Everything was black. She was floating in a dark void of nothingness, enveloped by a disturbing silence and unable to move. Her eyes flicked around wildly, searching for something to focus on, something to at least give her a sense of direction. There was nothing._

_But wait. There_ was _something. A tiny pinpoint of light, straight ahead—at least, she_ thought _it was straight ahead—and she was being drawn slowly but surely towards it. Soon the light dimmed and a blue heart locket came into focus, beating strongly despite its large cracks. She reached out a hand (for she was now able to move again, and like most dreamers, she didn't dwell on the mysterious fact) and traced the fault lines on the heart, which was warm to the touch._

_The heart nestled itself into her palm and Vivi gazed at it in wonder. It was so pretty, so fragile, and yet its steady, strong beat reminded her of something tougher. As she watched, a pink, dancing flame crept out of the locket, sputtering and bending as if battered by a gale—but as Vivi closed her eyes and stayed as still as she could, she could feel no breeze; not even the slightest hint of disturbance in the warm air. Her face grew hot and her eyes snapped open to be faced with a skull, inches from her face. Aching with familiarity, she watched as a fiery pompadour arranged itself on the skull, the dark eye sockets were lit by flaming irises, and a face started to come into focus—_

_And then the face was consumed with fire, fire that funnelled down like a miniature cyclone, twisting like a fish's tail, and then the fire extinguished and someone was left in front of her—someone with a kind face, spiky blonde hair and striking amber eyes._

_She reached out for the stranger but his face contorted, twisting into a cruel snarl which grew sharp, pointed teeth; the figure's skin coloured with a sickly green, his hair shot through with white; and last of all, the whites of his eyes darkened to black and his irises sharpened into toxic green, knife-edged disks._

_Vivi lurched back in horror as he reached out with crooked fingers, catching the edge of her scarf in his hand. He yanked on it cruelly and she choked, gazing pleadingly into his sharp, cold eyes._

_"You don't want to end up like_ him _," the stranger hissed, turning to the left. Vivi's eyes followed his intense gaze and she shrank back from a purple figure suspended in mid-air, a look of absolute horror and betrayal on his face. She jerked back to the blonde stranger for an explanation—but there was none to be given._

_With a sick grin, the stranger let go of her, leaving Vivi to plunge into the black void beneath her, screaming out a name._

* * *

_This time she was walking in a garden of creeping vines, following the strains of song floating to meet her._

"Stitched you up, put you together  
With cotton and feather.  
Gave you love, put my heart inside you. . ."

_Where was it coming from? The voice seemed to be singing a melody, but there were only echoes where the tune should be. Purple roses struggled to grow on the vines around her, but couldn't sustain life and shrivelled up into brown crumples of petal. In their place grew dazzling white lilies, blooming and stretching out to the world around them, overshadowing the dark thorns sprouting along the vines below them. She shivered and pressed on through the living garden._

". . . I'm in despair;  
Should I be scared?

Teddy bear, you were my teddy bear  
You were comforting and quiet  
How did love become so violent?  
Oh, teddy bear, you were my teddy bear  
Everything was so sweet . . . until you tried to kill me."

_Up ahead she could see a large figure floating in a fetal position, oblivious to the darkness and intermingled life around them. She approached the figure, sure the song was coming from them. It was only now that the voice was slipping into lower registers, filling out and becoming more masculine — yes. Certainly the voice was coming from this person._

"I'm so unprepared. . .  
I'm fucking scared. . ."

_The voice broke on the last word, dissolving into sobs, but the song continued on regardless. She carefully approached the trembling figure, reaching out—_

_With a metal hand._

_The figure let go of their knees and stretched out into a standing position, shying away from her touch. Two large, frightened, red-rimmed eyes gazed down at her from underneath an overhanging purple fringe._

_The person let out a strangled sound and lurched forward, jerking back just as they would have embraced her. Their eyes flickered with happiness and then they bit their lip in a grimace—_ _obviously they were unsure how to react to her; should they be happy to have found her or frightened of her?_

_It was only just now she realised the uncertain amethyst eyes gazing down at her were a boy's. Why had she only realised this just now? The purple boy's eyes filled with tears and they spilled down his face, dripping to the ground beneath him. He opened his mouth to say something, but then gave a choked cry as his eyes locked onto her hand._

_She felt that same hand tingle and looked down in surprise at the glinting metal, which was melting down into skin. The yellow of her clothes dripped away to reveal blue—_ _lots of blue. The stranger in front of her gasped in surprise and as she looked up at him his lips curved up in a dazzling smile. She felt her heart flutter as he drifted lower, reaching inside his vest for something. He pulled out a cyan forget-me-not and held it out in an offering, eyes sparkling._

_Feeling her face heat up, she reached out to take the flower—_

_And it burst into flame, the fire leaping forward to consume her as the purple boy's face transformed. The last thing she saw before the world once again went dark was two glaring purple eyes, the eyes that once held so much love. . ._

"I'm fucking scared. . ."

* * *

Lewis snapped back to reality, heart hammering. That was the third time in as many days! Why did he keep seeing her? Why did he keep confusing her with . . . him? Lewis shuddered and shook his head. There must be some mistake.

He looked around himself at the dark night, tainted with the magenta of his fire. How could a ghost feel so fatigued? So weak? He had been looking for so long—but for some reason had completely overlooked his own home town.

Lewis thought of Vivi back at home, sitting with his murderer, completely unsuspecting. He felt his heart ache and lifted a hand to touch it. _Vivi. . ._

He needed to find her—and soon. Otherwise Arthur would fill her head with his lies, and he would turn her against him. _Perhaps she's forgetting him already,_ Lewis thought hopefully. _Maybe the spell's working faster than I thought it might._

He waited to feel some kind of thrill or satisfaction, some sort of confirmation that he was doing the right thing, but all he felt was a cold hollowness. He shouldn't have to do this to her. He shouldn't have to sacrifice so much for love.

At this internal dialogue Lewis felt a pang. He had loved Arthur. And where had that led? _Stabbed in the back. Killed by my best friend. I lost everything._ But maybe something could be salvaged from this mess. Perhaps once he got rid of his tormentor, things could go back to the way they used to be.

He just needed the will to try.

* * *

There was a crash from Vivi's bedroom and Arthur bolted down the hallway, flinging the door open and barrelling into her room.

Vivi was sitting in the centre of the bed, staring with wild eyes at the overturned bedside drawer on the carpet. So that was the source of the noise. Arthur slowly raised his eyes to Vivi, who was breathing heavily, mussed blue hair hanging down over her face. She saw him and gasped, face draining of remaining colour.

"Where's the purple boy?" she whispered, hands trembling.

Arthur felt a stab. _Please, not again._ "Vivi—"

"Where is he?" she repeated, voice rising in panic. "I need to know where he is! He was pushed, p-pushed—he doesn't like yellow. He— yellow! No yellow!" she squirmed back across the sheets. "N-No! He'll burn me! Yellow makes his fire burn . . . makes the flowers die. . ."

"Vee?" Arthur's chest tightened as he took small, hiccupping breaths.

"NO!" The girl shrieked, hugging her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth. "Th-There's purple everywhere . . . he's so scared there's too much yellow—yellow makes fire, burning like his hate love love is blue there's only black falling FALLING no one to trust, forget everything. Forget you. Forget me—"

"Vivi!" Arthur lurched forward and dove to the bed, grabbing her chin in cold metal fingers and angling her face to meet his. As he looked deep into her eyes, he could see the fear. Fear that speared deep, fear that mirrored a look of betrayal he once saw . . . and suddenly, he understood. "What did he do to you?" he whispered, face a mask of sorrow.

With that, Vivi collapsed into sobs and buried her face in his chest. Arthur wrapped his arms around her shaking form and rested his chin on her head, closing his eyes. They stayed like that for some time, Vivi's tears soaking the front of Arthur's shirt as Mystery watched on in ferment.

"I'm sorry," Arthur finally murmured. Vivi's sniffles stopped and she lifted her head to look at him, confused.

"I-I mean, I should have protected you. I should have been more careful. . ."

"Arthur?" Arthur stiffened and met his friend's eyes, unsure what to expect. She studied him for a second before her face broke into a relieved smile. "Arthur!" She vaulted to her knees and flung her arms around him. "Why didn't you come? I've been so scared!"

Arthur was unclear on how to react to this. "I . . . You were? I didn't?"

"No, silly." Vivi sat back and grabbed his hand. "Don't do that to me! Next time come when I call, you hear me?"

All Arthur could do was nod in surprise as Vivi wrapped her arms around him again. He shot Mystery a loaded look over the top of her head and shook his own.

_What on earth is happening? Why us? Why her?_


	4. Worried 'Bout the Future (4/4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU: Since Lewis died and Arthur got attacked Chloe has sunken into depression. Vivi's memory is still fading, and Arthur knows Lewis is back as a ghost and is looking for him. Written 2017.

The dream faded away and she became aware of the sheets beneath her clammy hands, but she remained with her eyes closed, counting her shallow breaths. A dull throb started in her head and she opened her mouth, realising how dry it was, and how scratchy her throat felt. Couldn't she just fall asleep and escape the discomforts of the physical world for a little while longer?

There was a knock at the door and she groaned. She didn't want to get up. She didn't want to open her eyes. Why couldn't everyone just leave her be?

The knocks grew louder, more persistent, and she cracked open one eye. She floundered around until her hand met something cool and smooth, which she curled her fingers around and held to her face. She squinted against the bright light and rubbed her eyes but managed to make out seven blurry characters: **6:33 PM**.

Another knock jarred through her aching skull and she groaned, rolling to the side. Her body met air and she thumped to the carpet, dazedly kicking away the sheets tangled around her legs. She planted two hands firmly against the floor and pushed herself up, moaning as her elbows ached with disuse.

"I'm coming," she croaked, waving a hand absently at the door. Slowly she crawled over to it, grabbed the door handle, pulled herself up and, steadying herself, turned the handle.

"Chloe?"

She lurched back, heart pounding. She wasn't ready for this. Not yet.

Vivi stepped into the room, her concerned features swimming in Chloe's hazy vision. Vivi fumbled along the wall and switched the light on, bathing the dark room in warm light—and she gasped.

Chloe looked awful. Her blonde hair looked unwashed and tangled, her green eyes were cloudy and red-rimmed, and her skin was practically _grey_. Vivi caught a flash of green in her periphery and craned over Chloe's shoulder—her usual cosplay outfit was lying discarded in the corner, rumpled and stained.

"Chloe? What happened?"

Chloe raised her eyes to Vivi, her face now an indistinguishable haze. "Glasses," she mumbled, turning to search for them on the bedside table. Vivi stepped around her and picked them up, handing them to the younger girl. Chloe slid them on and blinked, Vivi's features now coming into focus. Suddenly she found it very hard to meet her co-worker's eyes and her own drifted down to examine her pale hands.

"Chloe."

She sheepishly looked up at Vivi and felt her stomach twist in dread. The throb behind her eyes was still there, and the blood pounding in her ears only made it worse. Her heart battered against her ribcage and her breath came out in shallow gasps.

"I-I'm sorry," she whispered.

"What?"

"I . . . I'm sorry." Chloe's voice suddenly became shrill and desperate. "It—I didn't mean it! I didn't mean for this to happen!" She covered her face with her hands. "It's all my fault! Arthur's blaming himself a-and it wasn't even him, it was me! I've ruined everything!"

Vivi reached out a hand to place on the girl's shoulder, but it was snatched mid-way by a sobbing Chloe. "I just wanted to make you proud! I wanted to join your group—I was so stupid!"

Vivi pulled the girl close and tucked her head under her chin. "It's okay. Nothing's your fault."

"You don't understand!" Chloe pushed away. "It IS my fault! Arthur's blaming himself and you've lost your boyfriend and everything's messed up!"

"What boyfriend?"

Chloe paused mid-rant and studied Vivi with wide, scared eyes. _What boyfriend?_

"Your boyfriend," Chloe repeated stupidly.

"Chloe, what are you talking about?" Vivi's features twisted in confusion.

"Uhh, I-I—"

The phone in Vivi's pocket buzzed and Chloe sighed in relief. Saved by the bell.

Frowning, Vivi took her phone out and answered the call while Chloe quickly wiped her eyes. "Hello? Yeah, it's me. Uhh. . ." She threw a glance in Chloe's direction. "Well, I'm kind of busy at the moment . . . yeah. I suppose I could . . . but what about Chloe?"

"Oh, it's fine," the girl offered, feeling her heart rate climb again. "I mean, if you're busy, like, you can always talk to me later. I'll be alright."

Doubt flickered in the sapphire depths of her friend's eyes and Chloe shot her a tired smile. "If you're worried, you can always call Duet."

Slowly, Vivi nodded. "Yeah . . . yeah, okay. I'll call Duet. Arthur? You still there? Yeah, I'm coming . . . Alright, be there soon." She ended the call and slipped her phone back into her skirt. "You sure you'll be alright?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." Vivi smiled and stepped forward to squeeze Chloe's arms. "You shower and eat and drink something, okay? I'll be back soon."

"Will do."

Chloe upheld the smile and watched Vivi move off down the corridor, even offering a tiny wave. As soon as her co-worker disappeared around the corner, the façade dropped and her shoulders slumped.

_She wouldn't be helping me if she knew what I did._

* * *

Arthur set his phone back down on the table and leant forward to squint at his computer. Onscreen-Tempo glitched out of proportion and he shook the laptop, irritated.

"Are you still looking?"

Arthur gave a slight start and looked down at Mystery, who was now standing beside him and watching the screen intently, ears pricked.

"Yeah." Arthur lifted his arms and stretched, back arching against the chair.

"That ghost is running rings around you," Mystery frowned, examining Arthur's drained expression.

The latter tapped a key to cancel the search, sighing and running a hand through his mussed hair. "I need to find him, Mystery." His hand unconsciously drifted to rest on his prosthetic. "I just want to able to fix it. Him. Us. Everything."

The dog nodded in understanding but felt his gut wrench. He wasn't at all sure Lewis was looking for an explanation.

The two fell silent, consumed in their own thoughts. After a while Arthur broke the silence.

"When we find him . . . What do you think he'll do?"

Mystery sighed. Think of the devil, and it will appear. "I can't be sure."

"What about Vivi? What if he—"

"Hey, Artie. Who ya talking to?"

Arthur whipped around to see his blue-haired friend walk through the door, stepping carefully over a bulky-looking box in the way. "Jeez, this workshop is a mess. Do you really need one here too?"

Arthur subtly closed his laptop. "'Course. Do you expect me to keep running to the repair shed if I want to work on something?"

Vivi chose to ignore this and made her way to Arthur's desk. "So, you got anything? There any suspicious ghosts around here?"

"Not yet."

"Ah well. We'll get some work soon."

"Hey Vee, can you get some books for me?"

Vivi paused. "What books?"

"Could you pick up some books from _Tome Tomb_? Relating to supernatural stuff. For information."

The girl groaned. "Ugh, Arthur, you ryeblob! I was just there! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Uhh, sorry." Arthur seemed rather distracted, she noticed. "Do you want me to drive you there?"

"Ya duffer, it's only fifty metres up the street." She ruffled his hair fondly. "I can walk."

Arthur slapped her hand away but smiled—and then, glancing at his laptop, seemed to think otherwise. "Actually . . . nevermind. We can all go tomorrow."

Vivi seemed surprised and opened her mouth to say something, but seemed to think the better of it and shut it again, shrugging. "Alright. If you say so." She gave Arthur's back a pat and walked back to the doorway, stopping to turn and look back over her shoulder. "You . . . don't really seem yourself. Would you like some coffee?"

"Coffee . . . would be nice. Thank you." Arthur shot Vivi a grateful smile and hid his fidgeting hands under the table.

"All . . . right. . ." Vivi shot him one last glare before she walked out, feeling strangely empty. As soon as she disappeared Arthur turned back to the computer, opening it back up and reloading the page.

"Hold on, buddy," he mumbled. "We'll find you."

* * *

_She knows. She doesn't know, no. He'd know. Would he?_

_My fault. My fault._

_You need to tell him. DON'T TELL HIM! What would he do to you? What would he do to himself?_

_Free trapped hope fear love hate give take yellow blue alive dead innocent guilty. . ._

* * *

"Hey Arthur, can I ask you something?"

Arthur snapped out of his daze, eyes resting on Vivi from across the table. "Yeah? What is it?"

"I just . . . I feel so empty. It's like something's . . . gone." Her hand drifted to her chest and, finding nothing there, dropped back to her side. "You, you're usually pretty observant. Have you seen anything I might have missed?"

Arthur swallowed and shook his head, then, realising she couldn't see him, he cleared his throat. "No."

Vivi sighed and leaned against the counter, back still turned. "I don't know. It just feels like I'm missing a piece. Or something." She turned to face him and picked up the two mugs on the counter, carrying them to the table and setting one down in front of Arthur. It was then she noticed he was fidgeting.

"Arthur? Is there anything else?"

"No. . ."

"Arthur!" Vivi slammed her hands down on the table, suddenly exasperated. "I know you! You're hiding something!"

Arthur jumped and hid his hands under the table. "I . . . It can't be fixed. It doesn't matter," he pleaded. "Just leave it alone."

Vivi growled and glared at Arthur, gripping the handle to her mug tightly, knuckles flashing white. "Listen, Buster. You think you can hide things from me but we're _family_ , okay? Family doesn't lie. Family doesn't hide things."

"I—"

"ARTHUR!"

"VIVI! It _doesn't matter_! I told you you can't fix it, why can't you leave it alone?"

Vivi recoiled as if slapped. "But I—"

"No! You know what? Forget it. It doesn't matter. Leave it alone. Okay?" Arthur stood, scraping his chair back. "I'm going out. To sort through things." He started for the door but stopped when he caught Mystery slinking after him. "And you. Stay here." And then he stalked out, leaving Mystery and Vivi staring at the doorway in shock.

Feeling weak and confused, Vivi sank into a chair. Everything was so, so wrong.

She felt something wet press against her hand and glanced down at Mystery, head in her lap, gazing up at her sadly. With a soft sob she leant forward and nuzzled him, wrapping her arms around his warm body.

Further down the hall, Arthur tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill. He stopped and took a couple of deep breaths, willing his erratic heartbeat to slow. He hated that he'd just made Vivi upset, but he couldn't take it. He didn't want her to get tangled up in all this. He didn't want to break her heart again. It was bad enough as it was without further meddling.

He wiped his eyes and with trembling fingers reached out to set a hand on the doorknob. One walk. That was all he needed. One walk to calm down and sort through things. Then, maybe, he could come back home and come up with a solution to this mess.


	5. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Random confrontation scene with vengeful Lewis. Written 2017.

Arthur stepped back, eyes wide with fear.

"You thought you killed me, huh?" The skeleton clenched his fists, igniting them with flame. "Thought you could take Vivi, huh? Thought you could stab me in the back?"

"Lewis. . ." The word rode out on a breath.

Before his eyes, a film of skin settled over the skull, spreading down and covering his body. The flaming pompadour extinguished to reveal mulberry tufts, drooping forward to cover his dark eyes. The suit sleeves billowed out into those of a white dress shirt, held in check by a purple vest, and the black pants shrunk back to purple jeans. But what Arthur found he couldn't his eyes off was the gaping, bloody hole in Lewis' chest.

"Is . . . Is that. . ." Arthur choked, feeling nausea bubble in his stomach as the hole dripped with red.

"Oh be careful, Arthur." Lewis' kind expression twisted into a wry smirk. "Don't give yourself away now."

Arthur turned and fled, fled away from the grim sight.


	6. But I'm Afraid (1/3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur's and Vivi's bust goes wrong when a strange blue tree woman crashes the party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Swearing.

Vivi drove the van along the road, tapping the steering wheel with her fingers and humming to herself. They rounded a corner and the van slowed down. Arthur threw her a questioning look. "Why are you slowing down?"

"I'm not," she frowned, pressing at the accelerator. The van sputtered and drew to a stop on the side of the road.

Vivi groaned. "Not _again_! I thought you fixed it for this bust?"

"Uh," he replied smartly. "I did—Uncle Lance checked it over for me. It should be fine. . ."

"Well, it's not," she retorted, slumping frustratedly against her seat.

Arthur fiddled with his fingers, gazing out the windscreen. His mind felt floaty as he recalled last week's visit to the ghostly mansion. "Well. . . how far are we from the warehouse? I can probably get her up and running again in an hour or so."

She leaned over and checked the dashboard GPS. Frowning, she gave it a quick couple of taps. "It. . . says we're here?"

Arthur could have sworn he saw a purple spark travelling along the wires before they disappeared into the dash. Unnerved, he leaned over as well.

"Hey, look! There's a gate over there." She pointed across the road and he squinted.

Two deep purple brick pillars, bearing large black barred gates, topped with sharp iron spikes.

"That looks. . . new."

"Well, someone still owns this place, right? They probably refurbished it."

Arthur wasn't convinced. "Renovating a _haunted_ shed?"

She only shrugged. "Yeah, well, some people are picky like that." She sat for a moment, fingers tapping the wheel, before decisively releasing her seatbelt and turning to Arthur. "Well, come on," she urged. "I know the mansion was a bit of a weird one, but we can do this, yeah? At least _this_ one won't disappear without a trace come tomorrow morning."

Suddenly, he could feel his stomach sinking. He exhaled, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. _Not again._

"C'mon Skulls, let's go." Vivi's voice made him look up, and he averted his eyes, focussing instead on the road ahead of them.

There was a toxic green mist creeping across the road, and he reared back. _Green. Like the dreams._

"Arthur? What's the matter?"

His chest felt tight, and he drew in a breath. "Do you see that?"

She glanced out the windscreen, shooting him a strange look. "What, the road?"

"The mist."

Vivi followed his gaze, with Mystery craning over the dashboard to get a better look. "Arthur. . . The road's clear. There's nothing out there."

A chill swept down his spine. _They can't see it?_

He blinked, and, as quickly as it had come, the mist disappeared, snapping out of existence like a figment of his imagination.

He drew a shaky breath, and then cleared his throat to disguise his unease, pushing his anxieties to the back of his head. "Uhm. . . I'll just stay here. Keep a lookout." He thought for a moment. "And fix the van. Again."

"What?" Vivi cried. "And miss out on _another_ tip-off?? Artie, you never do anything with us anymore!"

His heart twanged at 'us'.

"C'mon, please," she begged. "Last week was the first time you've been out of the house in _months_ —you've been acting so weird lately! Maybe you just . . . need to get it out of your system!"

She was grasping at straws, he could tell, but he shook his head firmly. "I'm good. Maybe next time."

She moaned, slumping forward and banging her head against the steering wheel, and the van let out a loud _HONK!_ , making Arthur jump. Vivi rolled her head to the side and smirked.

"I saw that."

"Hey," he argued. "Let's not pick on the scaredy-cat mechanic."

She shook her head and sat up before sighing and unbuckling her seatbelt. She opened the driver's door and she and Mystery jumped out.

Before walking off, Vivi turned and looked through the window at Arthur. "You sure you don't want to come?"

"Nah."

Again, Arthur's blue-haired friend sighed. "Alright then. Just don't go anywhere, okay?"

"Where else would I go?"

She poked her tongue out at him. "You owe me, Buster. If something happens we'll phone in on the walkie-talkie." Vivi pointed at a little black device sitting on the seat, before she turned and along with Mystery trotted off across the road. _"And don't forget to actually fix the van!"_ she called over her shoulder before they disappeared through the gate.

**危 危 危**

Vivi walked along the dirt road, gravel crunching under her feet. Mystery padded along beside her, ears perked up and a low growl rumbling in his throat.

"It seems like everyone's on edge tonight." Vivi sighed, reaching down to stroke the dog's head. "It's been _months_ but Arthur's . . . still not in a good way. All those nights he spends pottering around the house? I'm worried about him." She sighed, straightening again. "I wish. . . it could go back to like how it used to be. Us four, mucking around, jaunting across the state. We knew what we were doing back then." Her tone was melancholy.

An eerie silence descended, broken only by the crunching of dirt beneath their feet. After a few minutes, Mystery gave a short, determined bark and sped up.

Vivi plodded along behind him, shoulders slumping. "I thought things would get better with time, but he's just going even more downhill. I _know_ he's grieving—we can't fix what happened. But, I. . . what if. . .?" Feeling something heavy and painful settle in her chest, she swiped an arm across her eyes. "I can't lose him too, Mystery."

Suddenly she realised it was much _quieter_ and she looked up to find Mystery wasn't there anymore. She gave an irritable huff. "Some emotional support," she grumbled, wrapping her arms around herself and quickening her pace. As she walked, Vivi stared around at the bleak environment she could make out in the dim moonlight, trying to push her worries from her mind.

**危 危 危**

Arthur sat alone in the van, leaning his head against the cold window, trying to break from the dissociation that had gripped him. He needed to get out and fix the van like he'd promised—but the world around him seemed distant, detached; so far away. He felt his mind drifting instead back to its usual topic.

 _I wish you were here, Lewis,_ he thought to himself for the umpteenth time. _I miss you, bud. . . We both do. It isn't the same without you here._

When he was alone, he liked to talk to him, and pretend he could hear him. It settled his nerves; made him feel better. He'd found himself doing it a lot more over the past week; the mansion had really stirred something in him and he didn't know why (maybe it was because it had been their first joint bust without Lewis. He closed his mind against the thought). Since then Arthur's nightmares had become more frequent and so he was running on less energy than usual; not that he'd let Vivi know. The benefits of cheap instant coffee.

Besides, it wasn't _that bad_ —of course he'd been out of the house. He'd been dropping new flowers off every week, and though it wasn't up his alley, he'd been researching about and buying symbolic flowers—he thought Lewis would have appreciated it. It the was the least he could do.

He usually snuck out when Vivi was away—best not to give her more to worry about. Next time, he thought, he'd drop off violets by the grave. Violets were a sign of asking for forgiveness, right? Or was it tulips?

Arthur was startled out of his thoughts by a sudden ear-piercing shriek. He jumped but didn't move—Vivi tended to overreact. But then the radio crackled to life.

_". . .Thur! We need. . . please br. . .pices, matches_ _an. . . —f_ _garden clippers! . . . something big on our hands!"_

_Shit,_ he thought to himself, and struggled out of his seatbelt. Once he fell out the van door, he bolted around to the back, threw open the doors, grabbed a backpack and scrambled into the back. The utility box—matches. Pices, pices. . . spices? In Vivi's charms pile. He shoved aside the dragon puppet and snatched the whole pack up, shoving them into his bag. Garden clippers? . . . Did they even have any? He stood still for a moment, brain ticking over. No. They'd never seen a use for them . . . and, come to think of it, he still couldn't picture a scenario for those. But Vivi always knew best. Back to the draws—scissors would have to do.

There was another screech from the radio in the front and he leapt down onto the road—almost twisting an ankle—but caught his footing and pelted off across the road. On second thoughts, he abruptly turned around, ran back and grabbed his phone. He shoved it into his pocket and stumbled back to the trees, through the refurbished gate.

Once they got back home, he swore, he and Vivi were going to have a serious talk. If Lewis were here, maybe he could talk some sense into Vivi—but, seeing as that was no longer an option, he'd just have to do it himself.

He didn't see the gate behind him vanish in a puff of pink flame.

**危 危 危**

As she walked, Vivi stared around at the bleak environment she could make out in the dim moonlight. There was a scrabbling sound ahead, and Vivi squinted along the path, trying to make out a certain white shape.

"Mystery?" She called, pulling her sweater sleeves down over her hands. "Mystery, you there?"

A sudden, earsplitting hiss filled the silence, and Vivi clapped her hands over her ears, screwing her eyes shut. As soon as her ears stopped ringing, she let her hands drop to her sides and opened her eyes—and her jaw dropped.

Before her, a huge blue woman stood blocking the road, grinning nastily down at a cowering Mystery. The strange woman appeared even taller because of the synthetically coloured bonsai sprouting from her head. Her hair was unnaturally white, her teeth unnaturally sharp, and as she glared down at Mystery, a long orange tongue curled its way out of her mouth and over her blue lips in anticipation.

 _A real_ yokai _!_ Vivi thought excitedly. _Right in front of me! This is amazing. This is amazing!_

The _yokai_ pulled from her traditional skirts a huge pair of garden shears, and Vivi noticed with alarm the size of her hands. They could easily close around Mystery's entire head and crush it.

 _Wow,_ Vivi thought. _What a pretty thought._

She stepped up beside her dog. Mystery started, shooting her what looked like a terrified look.

"Hey, you," she said loudly, with more confidence than she felt, "Leave my dog alone."

The _yokai_ froze for a moment, something inscrutable flashing across her face. She stared at her for a moment in disbelief before recovering. ** _"Sono ikimono wa watashi no mono, ningendesu,"_** * she hissed.

"He is NOT yours!" Vivi snapped in indignation. The creature did not move. She tried again. _"Kare wa anata no monode wa arimasen!"_

 ** _"Orokana ko,"_** the _yokai_ grated, and lunged forward. Vivi was knocked to the ground as Mystery jumped in front of her.

"Mystery, NO!" she yelled, and sat up, only to be knocked down again by something huge and soft. When she opened her eyes, she found herself gazing up at a long, white, furry . . . thing.

She propped herself up on her elbows and squeaked in alarm. A huge white fox towered above her, baring its teeth at the tree-woman. Where had Mystery gone? And where had this thing come from?

"Mystery!" she called. The _yokai_ dodged around the huge fox, shears snapping shut inches from Vivi's face. On second thoughts, they needed help.

She fumbled the walkie-talkie out from her pocket and pressed the button. "Arthur! We need you! Please bring the Japanese spices, matches and a pair of garden clippers! We've got something big on our hands!"

Wait a minute— that fox had a lot of tails. _A kitsune?!_ She felt her blood pump in excitement. What were the chances? Actually, now that she looked at it. . . it was very familiarly coloured. When it turned, she caught a glimpse of the yellow eyeglasses perched on its nose.

 _Hey, he looks just like Mystery,_ she thought to herself. _He's even got the same collar._

She found herself giggling, her head hazy with adrenaline. _What if Mystery had a huge fox brother? We could adopt him. There'd be no room for him in the house._

Another powerful hit landed close to her, scoring a deep hole in the earth. The haze disappeared with a bolt of cold panic.

 _Wait—Mystery._ She looked up again at the doglike creature, feeling her mouth drop open.

Just as she was about to call out, a figure came into view in her periphery. She thought she saw a flash of purple, and then her mind spun off into oblivion.

**危 危 危**

Arthur saw the flash ahead and ran faster. _Shit, Vivi, what have you gotten yourself into now?_

A few pounding steps later and he almost fell over her. He looked around—the clearing was empty. All he could see was Vivi sitting there on the ground, seemingly paralysed, staring unblinking at nothing. Mystery was nowhere to be seen.

Arthur crouched down in front of his friend and shook her urgently.

"Hey, Vivi? You okay?" he asked worriedly, searching her face. "You aren't hurt, are you?"

Vivi took a sharp breath. "I. . . ." She began, her mind still elsewhere.

"What? What is it?"

"I. . . ." Vivi's eyes came into focus, settling on Arthur. ". . . Arthur?"

"Um . . . yeah?"

She looked confused. "What are you doing here? I thought you were in the van."

"I mean, I was . . . until—"

"Hey, where's Mystery?"

Arthur blinked. "Mystery?"

"Yeah, he was just walking beside me. . . he ran off, and I. . ."

He looked around. Still no trace of the dog. Oh well. He could look after himself.

"Uhh. . . so, what did you need the stuff for?"

". . . Stuff?"

"Yeah, the spices, the matches. . . I've got them all in here. Except for the clippers. I mean . . . obviously we don't keep those in the van." He showed her the bag.

She just stared at him.

Arthur found himself growing exasperated. "Well, didn't anything happen, then?"

She grimaced. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, like . . . anything out of the ordinary!"

"Uhh, nooo. . ." she looked confused. "I don't think so. I was literally just walking."

"Wait— what about the purple flash?"

She tilted her head. "A purple . . . flash. . .?"

"Well, it was more of a magenta colour, actually. . ."

There was a rustling sound behind them and Arthur whipped around.

"Mystery!" Vivi yelled, scrambling to her feet. Arthur followed her gaze to the dog, standing at the side of the road. It looked like he had something in his mouth.

Vivi rushed over. "Hey, boy! Where did you go? Don't run off on me like that!"

Hastily Mystery dropped whatever it was and jumped up to give her a lick on the face.

"Ahh— No! Down, boy!" she demanded, but she was laughing. Arthur nervously scuffed his shoe in the dirt.

"Uhh, Vivi? Do you think we should get going?"

She turned around and blinked at him, working her fingers through the dog's fur. "Huh? Why?"

"Well, there's something—" he stopped himself. If he brought that flash to light again, she'd probably want to stay even longer. She had a short attention span—best not to mention it. ". . . I mean, nothing's happening, so. . ."

Vivi sighed and stood up. "Yeah . . . you're right. Another dud." She brushed herself down and started off in the direction they came from, clicking her fingers behind her. "C'mon, boy."

Arthur stayed behind, creeping up to the side of the road. In the grass he found what looked like a gold heart-shaped locket.

His chest twinged with familiarity. Crouching down, he reached out for it.

"Artie! You coming or not?"

He snatched his hand back as if burned. "Ah— yeah! I'm right behind you!"

And, with one last cursory glance around the area to make sure there was nothing else lurking in the dark, he stood and scurried after his friends.

The glowing heart remained behind in the grass, beating softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title excerpted from "Freaking Out" by Mystery Skulls.  
>  All the Japanese was Google translate. . . I apologise. What can a writer do?
> 
> Translations:
> 
> 1\. Sono ikomono wa watashi no mono, ningendesu = その生き物は私のもの、人間です = That creature is mine, human  
> — desu = です = roughly translates to "to be" or "it is"
> 
> 2\. Kare wa anata no monode wa arimasen! = 彼はあなたのものではありません = He is not yours!
> 
> 3\. Orokana ko = 愚かな子 = Foolish child


	7. Exhaustion (2/3)

A quick check-over revealed the van to be in perfect working order. Vivi turned the key in the ignition and the engine sparked to life. Weird. She revved the engine experimentally, and it roared back at her, loud and smooth as ever. She noticed Arthur wincing in her periphery.

As they pulled off the side of the road, she shot a quick glance at Arthur—to find his eyes on her. Just as they would have made eye contact, he averted his eyes, instead fixing them on the road ahead. Beside him, Mystery's ears were pressed flat against his skull.

There was nothing on the road ahead of them. She raised her eyes to the mirror—and nothing behind them. Not another life form in sight.

The clouds above seemed to be miraculously clearing. Before they had blotted out the moon, casting shadows across the landscape, but now thanks to the beams of unhindered light Vivi could see the road to their hometown almost as clear as day. As she looked to her left, she could make out the dim street lights that illuminated Tempo, and buttery squares that were the lit windows of houses beckoned to her. Beyond that, the road snaked along a dusty plain and in between the flat-topped mountains that surrounded her home. She sighed. Just seeing the town made her feel relaxed and safe.

She soon came to a T-intersection—the far side of the road to the left was lined with bare, twisted trees, and on the other side ran a strip of tall grass before the treeline cut off the shrubs. Vivi turned off to the right, the van lurching as it transitioned from the bumpy dirt road and onto smooth tarmac. She heard soft snores to her right and Vivi smiled to herself. They _had_ been on the road all day (their first proper road trip for months), responding to ambiguous calls before returning to check out the warehouse. Turns out most of their clients were superstitious elderly people living alone and thought that scavenging raccoons and opossums were a cause for major concern. To be honest, she couldn't blame them for the possums—savage little gremlins they were—but tonight, she'd thought they'd _finally_ found a supernatural hotspot. Of course, she was disappointed.

As the bluenette focussed on the road in front of her, she found it gradually growing hazier, harder to concentrate on, and she found herself detaching. She shook her head and scolded herself. _This is why you should fit in substantial rest stops when road-tripping, Vivs. As the driver you're responsible for everyone else in the vehicle._ But, try as she might, she couldn't clear her mind, and now the road was winding and writhing like a snake. Suddenly, a black shape appeared on the road in front of her and a split-second later the van jolted.

 _Shit,_ she thought, and braked, releasing her seatbelt and groping for the doorhandle. She slipped out of the van and almost immediately her knees buckled underneath her, sending her sprawling and cursing.

". . . Vee?"

That was Arthur, drowsy with sleep.

"Wha . . . What's going on? Did we hit something?"

"Mmhm," she managed, and, bracing herself against the wheel, dragged herself to her feet. She started a few steps forward and fell again.

"Vivi?— Are you okay?"

There was a small scuffle and then her blurring vision was overwhelmed with orange. " _Who—_ oh my god, Arthur, you're a dandelion."

"I won't take that as an insult." Something settled on her shoulder—his hand, most probably—and she managed to force herself to focus on his face. Two concerned eyes blinked back at her.

"Whoa, Vivi— your pupils are dilating like crazy. You didn't, like. . . take anything, did you?"

"Arthur!" she snapped.

"Okay, alright, just. . . you're not drugged or concussed?"

"Jesus, I don't know. . ."

"Alright, hold on a sec. Let's get back in the van."

He hoisted her up and dragged her past the door.

"Arthur— there's the driver's seat. You've missed it."

"You are _not_ driving like this, Vee."

_Fair enough._

Once she was buckled in on the passenger's side, her lump of a dog slumped in her lap, Arthur ducked around the back of the van to check the road. When he came back and sat himself in front of the steering wheel, he reached across and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Your conscience is clear, Vee. Just a weird blue tree branch."

Mystery's ears shot up next to Vivi.

She sighed. "Good, I'd be having nightmares for weeks."

"Mmhm. . ."

She could tell he didn't believe her, which was fair enough. Her retro horror films, though the cause of his fair share of nightmares, had never bothered her.

"Just don't crash the van," she chided.

"Crash my old gold boy? Never."

She laid back, closing her eyes, hoping to get her head to stop spinning. The engine hummed, but the van didn't move.

She cracked open an eye. ". . . Arthur?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm all good." A pause. "Hey, Vee?"

"Yeah?"

"You know the gho— the, uh, the walk you took earlier?"

"Mhm."

"Did you like. . . do you remember what happened in the time it took for you to sit down?"

She scrunched up her nose. "Uhh, I don't. . . I don't think so. . . I was just walking. Mystery ran off."

"And then you were on the ground?"

"Mm, yeah."

"Uh. . . alright. Maybe you just tripped or something."

"Probably." She remained with her eyes closed. "Maybe that's how I got my concussion," she joked.

Arthur huffed, but she could tell he wasn't really laughing.

With the van rumbling like a great sleeping beast, she suddenly found herself feeling tired. It was relaxing, sitting like this, listening to the purring engine.

Arthur pulled them back onto the right side of the road and continued to drive. About five minutes down the road, he cast a worried glance at his friend. Vivi was already sleeping soundly, but Mystery was sitting up beside her, sniffing cautiously. Then, with a little grunt, he turned and fixed his eyes on Arthur.

The mechanic gave a small sigh and glanced up at the sky. "Something's up, huh, Lewis?"

Mystery cocked his head.

Arthur dragged a hand down his face tiredly. "Eughh, I dunno. Maybe she did just trip or something. Road trips are draining—even for Vivi." Reasoning with himself made him feel better, and he relaxed slightly. "There probably wasn't even a flash. We're all tired. I probably just imagined it. Right buddy?" He glanced at Mystery. "Right, Mystery?"

The dog's ears flattened ominously.

Arthur's tired smile faded and he focussed back on the road.


	8. Grasping at Straws (3/3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU: Arthur goes to Grandma Yukino for help with some memory-related supernatural shenanigans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Swearing.

After Vivi left for work, Arthur had crept down to the box by the door. He didn't need it anymore—he'd finished scanning in all the documents and had them backed up on his hard-drive. What he was looking for was the looping cursive he'd glimpsed earlier on a slip of paper inside.

There was nothing on the outside of the box, he confirmed as he sunk to his knees before the thing, and pulled open the flaps. It only took him a second to find the paper, and yep—that was _definitely_ Vivi's handwriting. He pulled it closer, squinting.

**_Panic induced by triggers related to 'that night'—PTSD?? + Grief. Therapists in Tempo?_ **

He suddenly felt cold, a tickling panic he was becoming increasingly used to starting up in his chest. _No no no, no. I'm dealing with this just fine on my own. I don't need a therapist. I'm fine._

He gave the paper another quick once-over and noticed another line of script beneath, small and unassuming:

**_おばあちゃん memory charms?_ **

Glancing around guiltily, he had pulled his phone from his pocket and taken a picture, screwed the paper up in his hands and threw it in the kitchen bin, then settling down to decode Vivi's script.

It had taken him a little over ten minutes to find his answer—"おばあちゃん" (" _Obaachan_ ") was the affectionate form of "Grandmother" in Japanese. _So Vivi's grandmother dabbles in memory charms?_ He sat there for a moment, mind brimming with possibilities. _She's involved with magic? If Vivi refers to her as Obaachan then she's most likely from her dad's side._

He'd never given the idea of magic much credence before, but then again, he never used to believe in ghosts, either. It was worth a shot.

**危** **危** **危**

Arthur cautiously stuck his head out the door and peered down the corridor. He could hear Vivi still pottering around in the kitchen. Drawing a steadying breath, he stepped out and began walking down the hall, shoving his phone back into his pocket.

 _Okay. Okay, you know what? It's fine,_ he thought to himself, running his fingers through his hair. _She's probably fine. Maybe Duet was just. . . overexaggerating._ That didn't sit right with him, and he gulped. _Or maybe she's just fatigued. Fatigue can mess with your memory sometimes._ _Isn't that familiar territory?_

Taking a steadying breath, he stepped out into the corridor and walked to the kitchen, dumping himself down at the table. He kept his head down, twiddling his thumbs, unsure of what to do.

"What's with all the nervous energy?"

He jerked up as if stung to find Vivi examining him.

"Uh, I— what?"

She shot him a look. "You've been acting weird all day. Are you okay?"

He could only blink at her. _Are YOU okay?_ he wanted to ask, but he held himself back, biting his lip. He only ducked his head again. _How can I get a handle on what's going on without being suspicious?_

He thought for a moment before something came back to him from this morning. Trying to calm himself, he lifted his head. "Hey, I can fix that wall for you if you like, even if I was only partly to blame."

She snorted. "You trying to blame that eyesore on _me_ , buster?"

"Of course not," he replied, confidence waning, "But someone heavy had to be there to catch me."

"You mean the door?" Her voice was teasing. Obviously, she thought he was joking. He swallowed nervously, anxiety rising. Maybe he could try a different tactic.

"Ah, yeah, the door. I was just. . . I mean, that thing's _heavy_."

"No heavier than you," she replied. "And you're a twig."

He chose not to answer that comment. He watched her for a moment, back now turned to him as she filled the sink, and caught a flash of pink when she turned her head.

Fuck it, he hated being subtle. "You know, every time I see your glasses they remind me of him." His chest clenched. _What the hell was that?_

"Hah, they do?"

Her voice was light, humoured. His heartrate settled. _See? Nothing to worry about. Duet was just exaggerating._

A moment ticked by before she spoke again. "So, who's the lucky guy?"

He choked. "Uh. Lucky? Guy? I mean— I was thinking— Lewis. They remind me of Lewis."

"Ooooo." She turned around, leaning against the counter and shooting him a playful smirk. "And when do I get to meet him?"

His heart _dropped_.

No. No no no no no—

"Is he handsome?"

He abruptly stood, chair screeching against the floor. "I'm gonna go visit someone."

Her eyes flared in fear at the noise, and she leant back a little, defensive. "Arthur?"

"I'm just—" he snatched up his laptop and its bag, shoving it inside. "I'm— I just have something to do I forgot. . . to do. . . earlier. You'll be here when I get back, right?" He shot her a wobbly smile for good measure.

She stared at him, something strange flickering across her face. "Uh. . . Okay? Yeah, I'll be here. . ."

"Okay, great." He forced a chipper tone into his voice, turning on his heel and clicking to Mystery. "And I'm gonna borrow Mystery. Is that okay?"

The dog shot him a strange look, not moving from his bed. He looked over to Vivi.

Vivi was silent for a moment before she nodded, slowly. "Yeah. . . okay. That's fine."

Slowly, carefully, as if he were afraid of alarming her, Mystery stood and slunk over to Arthur. He leant down and gave him a scratch behind the ears. "Great! I shouldn't be too long. See you in a little while." He strode down the corridor and away from the potential questions. Away from Vivi's confused expression. "You can choose dinner!"

When he hopped into the van and sparked the ignition, he shot Lance a message. He didn't like the idea of Vivi being home alone.

**危** **危** **危**

He stepped gingerly up onto the faded doormat, rapping his knuckles gently on the aged pine door. He waited for a few seconds, and, hearing nothing, knocked again, a little louder.

He jumped when he heard feverish muttering by the door, and then it swung open, sending him reeling back. Mystery stayed rooted to where he stood beside him on the doormat.

Arthur didn't know what he had been expecting, but he was sure he hadn't been expecting. . . _this_. The first thing he noticed about the woman before him was how. . . _greatly_ she lacked in height. The staff she held in her hand was around her height, and the golden rings at the top jingled when it moved. Her pale blue hair was pulled back sharply into a short ponytail, deliberate strands hanging down either side of her face and reaching her waist. Though her face was creased and wrinkled, her resemblance to Vivi was striking. Small, dark eyes squinted at him from behind a pair of tinted spectacles perched on her nose.

Her eyes moved to Mystery, standing beside him, and her expression darkened. She pulled from her robes a single red petal and held it up. "The flowers are lovely this spring," she said, voice cutting, and as if shocked Mystery drew back, ears flat against his skull. Arthur shot him a nervous look, sweat dripping down his back.

The woman crumpled the petal in her fist and tucked it back into her robes, shooting him a pointed look. "What do you want?" she said bluntly. Her tone was sharp and she over-pronounced her consonants despite not having an overly thick accent.

"Uh," Arthur stammered eloquently, feeling comically small standing before this stern woman. He remembered just in time to press his palms together and give a small bow. "Mrs Yukino, my name's Arthur Kingsmen—"

"[ _Shi_](https://www.sljfaq.org/afaq/titles.html#:~:text=In%20Japan%2C%20when%20talking%20about,Tanaka%2C%20and%20their%20unmarried%20daughter.). You call me _shi_ ,"she snapped, cutting him off, and waved her hand. "I know who you are. And I know your dog, too."

Arthur was confused for a second before he remembered that yes, she probably would know of Vivi's dog. He bowed a little lower. "I-I'm sorry, Mrs— _shi_ , I didn't mean to be rude—"

"Stand up," she said sharply, frowning. "You will not earn my respect by trying to impress me."

He rocketed up. "Ah, I— sorry—"

She stared at him for a moment, eyes shifting slowly down to Mystery, and made an angry sound. "Come in, then. Both of you." She turned around and began to move down the corridor further into her house. Arthur lifted a foot to step across the threshold and almost immediately her shrill voice assaulted his ears— _"And leave your shoes outside!"_

He hurriedly kicked them off and scuttled inside with Mystery, closing the door behind him and subsequently shutting out almost all light. The house was incredibly dark inside, and he hurried to catch up with the old woman before she disappeared from his field of view altogether.

"I know why the creature's here," she said, jerking her staff at Mystery. He visibly flinched in the darkness. "But why did you come." It was phrased like less of a question and more of a statement.

"Ah, I. . ." He followed her into a room and hit his head on the low doorframe. Wincing, he rubbed his head. "I heard. . . you do memory charms? Uh, I need help figuring something out, and I need to get back memories to do it. . ."

"Can't be done," she said, seemingly calmer now but still very much snappy, "I do not interfere with the human mind any more. You have come to the wrong person."

Arthur tried again. "But. . . can't you do something with magic? It's really important, um. . . Vivi's boyfriend, he. . ." _Died._ "Something happened to him, and I need to know what. For my sake. And Vivi's." He tacked the last bit onto the end, less as an admission but more as a hopeful stab at changing her mind.

"Hunting memories will not help my granddaughter," she griped, seemingly seeing right through him. "The human brain does not make mistakes. I will not tamper with memories that are meant to be hidden." However, she crossed the room and began rummaging in dark wooden drawers, muttering to herself. Hope flickered in his chest.

"What can I do, then?"

"Nothing," she said, fishing something out of the drawer and turning back to them. "I am not helping you with this. I am helping you with something else." She shot Mystery a poisonous glare. "Even though it is not my responsibility."

Mystery's ears flattened again. He looked ashamed.

The old woman shuffled forward and shoved a bag of small crystals at him. "Salt. You use this to purify the house. Ward off bad spirits. Sprinkle salt in rooms touching the outside." She wagged her finger at him. "Salt is not just a weapon used by priests against evil. Salt is a centuries-old Japanese charm. We came up with the salt first." Then, she handed him a paper bag. When he opened it, he found inside a handful of hanging charms; tiny drawstring bags, arrows and bells.

"[ _Omamori_](https://livejapan.com/en/article-a0003721/): _yaku yoke_ and _kenko_ _mamori_ ," she supplied. "Hang these in the house, high. Facing the light." Curious, he reached for one of the bags, and the old woman promptly smacked his hand away. "Do not open the bags! How many entrances to your house?"

Arthur blinked. "Uhh. . . the front door, and the garage? Two?"

"Is there an entrance from the garage to the house?" she asked, and he nodded. She turned and dug in a box on the floor, fishing out two painted boards hanging on string. " _Ema_. Hang one each over the outside doors inside the house. They cannot hang outside. The garage is outside. You do not need _ema_ for the garage door." She foisted them into his arms.

Feeling overwhelmed, Arthur peered down at her past the bundle in his arms. "Um, thank you, _shi_." The foreign word felt strange on his tongue; it made him nervous. Was he really addressing her properly? "So. . . what are these for. . .?"

She promptly whacked him on the head with her staff. "Keep away the bad spirits, the _yokai_!" she cried, and shuffled back to the drawers, grabbing a handful of what looked like printed sheets. Arthur was still rubbing his head when she returned and shoved them at him. " _Ofuda_. Stick these on important items. Your arm?" She peeled one off and smacked it onto his prosthetic. "Important item, seal with _ofuda_. Yes?"

"Ah. . . yes," he said meekly.

"If you cannot use _ofuda_ , use carving. Or a tattoo." He looked at her. She was deadly serious. "With the _hiragana_ , no English, no _katakana_. Yes?"

"Hirah. . . gunna?"

She huffed impatiently. " _Hiragana_ , Japanese characters on the _ofuda_. Nothing else."

"Um, yep, afooda, got it."

" _OFUDA_ ," she enunciated, jabbing him with her staff for good measure. "And one more." She pattered around the room, seemingly looking for something, before grumbling and shaking her head. "Front room. Now!"

She shooed them out with her staff (Arthur narrowly missing hitting his head again) and bustled down the corridor to the first room, ducking inside and waving her staff at the two. "You stay here," she said, and tottered inside, pottering around for a bit before snatching something up from the floor and returning, handing Arthur a. . . baseball bat?

"Bat? Important item, _ofuda_ ," she said, peeling off another sticker and slapping it on. "This is for Vivienne. No one else. Yes?"

"Yes," Arthur said weakly, balancing the bat with his bundle.

"Okay. Leave now. Goodbye." And with that, she promptly shooed them out onto the doorstep.

Arthur wheeled around. "W-Wait—! I still need help!"

"I gave you help," she snapped. His face fell, and her expression softened. "I will not interfere with memory. But you may come back with Vivienne if you need assistance." She jabbed her staff at the dog. "And you will not bring the _baikokudo_ until he renounces his charge." And with that, she slammed the door on them.

Arthur was left standing on the doorstep, gazing at the [_akamatsu_](https://japanwoodcraftassociation.com/traditions/wood-types/#:~:text=The%20primary%20types%20of%20wood,\(Akamatsu%20%E8%B5%A4%E6%9D%BE\).) door with a bundle of talismans in his arms, feeling more confused and lost than ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted an excuse to write Grandma Yukino. She gives me such cranky Raffiki / Mama Odie vibes, bless her.
> 
> Translations:
> 
> 1\. shi = 氏 = a formal honorific usually reserved for strangers
> 
> 2\. omamori = お守り = translates as 'amulet'; Japanese religious charms used for protection and luck that most commonly come as drawstring bags, arrows and bells  
> — yaku yoke = 厄除け = charms specifically for protection against evil spirits and bad luck  
> — kenkō mamori / kenkō = 健康 = translates as 'health'; charms specifically used to bring about and promote good luck
> 
> 3\. ema = 絵馬 = translates as from kanji as 'picture-horse'; Japanese prayer- and wishing-boards. Originally painted with horses, hence the name
> 
> 4\. ofuda / shinsatsu = 神札 = blocks of wood and slips of paper adorned typically with the seals of shrines to act as talismans
> 
> 5\. hiragana = ひらがな = Japanese alphabet used for phonetically spelling out words  
> — katakana = 片仮名 = used for foreign words  
> — kanji = 漢字 = sets of characters that represent whole words as opposed to phonetics in hiragana
> 
> 6\. baikokudo = 売国奴 = traitor
> 
> 7\. akamatsu = 赤松 = Japanese red pine


End file.
